Real Estate Brokers Brace for Upper East Side School Rezoning

[theschoolboards]

From DNAinfo.com (http://www.dnainfo.com/20111006/upper-east-side/real-estate-brokers-brace-for-upper-east-side-school-rezoning) by Julie Shapiro:

For real estate brokers working in the Upper East Side, the catchment areas for prestigious elementary schools P.S. 6 and P.S. 290 are seared into their memories.

So when the Department of Education recently announced proposed changes to the neighborhood's school zones, brokers braced for upheaval.

While P.S. 6's posh boundaries would be untouched under the DOE's proposal, P.S. 290 would lose roughly nine square blocks. P.S. 290 had a waitlist of 64 kids for the current year — even after last year's rezoning to tackle some of the overcrowding problems.

The neighborhood is facing another rezoning as the Department of Education prepares to open a new elementary school next year at the former Our Lady of Good Counsel building at 393 East 91st St. Changes would be also be made to P.S. 151 and P.S. 158's boundaries.

The Department of Education will make a presentation on the proposed changes at a Thursday hearing hosted at 6:30 p.m. by District 2's Community Education Council at P.S. 158 at 1458 York Ave.

The changes will likely cause anxiety among families who have recently moved or are looking to move to the area, brokers said.


read more>> (http://www.dnainfo.com/20111006/upper-east-side/real-estate-brokers-brace-for-upper-east-side-school-rezoning)

[theschoolboards]

Below are the UES Rezoning Proposal Presentation and Proposed Zone Line Map:


2011-2012 Rezoning Proposal (PDF) (http://www.cecd2.net/www/cecd2/site/hosting/PDF%202011-2012%20Rezoning%20Presentation.pdf)
UES Map (http://www.cecd2.net/www/cecd2/site/hosting/UES%20Draft%20for%20CEC.pdf)


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[theschoolboards]

From DNAinfo.com (http://www.dnainfo.com/20111007/upper-east-side/upper-east-side-principal-parents-blast-doe-rezoning-plans) by Amy Zimmer:

Although P.S. 290 has seen the ranks of its students — and wait-lists — swell in recent years, the head of the prestigious East 82nd elementary school is afraid that the city's plan to trim several blocks from its zone would not only reverse that trend but also lead to under-enrollment.

The change would also hurt the school's budget, since school funding is allocated based on the number of students, P.S. 290 Principal Sharon Hill told Department of Education officials at a Thursday night hearing on the proposed rezoning of Upper East Side elementary schools.
"As a principal, when I think of student enrollment, it's not only whether or not there are enough seats," Hill said. "Equally important is not having enough students" — and the loss of funding that brings.

DOE'S new rezoning proposal would remove a swath of roughly nine square blocks now zoned for P.S. 290.

Hill, who was joined by several of her school's parents, told DOE officials that this year, for the first time, her school had to cut arts, professional development and intervention services due to budget constraints.

"The budget cuts this year have been disastrous. My fear is the viability of the school [will be] impacted," Hill said of the proposed rezoning, pleading with the DOE to leave the blocks from East 84th to 86th between York and Lexington avenues in P.S. 290's zone.

The school had a wait-list of 64 students in June, with 164 zoned students vying for 100 seats.

"The wait-list was exhausted by the first week of school," Hill said. "We believe that will be the trend for the future."

Although the Upper East Side's elementary school zones were redrawn last year, they need to be overhauled again because the DOE is planning to open a new elementary school for the 2012 school year in the former Our Lady of Good Counsel building at 393 E. 91st St.

read more>>
(http://www.dnainfo.com/20111007/upper-east-side/upper-east-side-principal-parents-blast-doe-rezoning-plans)